


this is the way i love you

by sausegay



Category: Naruto
Genre: Demons, Feudal Japan, M/M, demon sasuke, he's a bird demon, inuyasha inspired au, it's fun :), like a geki, naruto as kagome, naruto is still naruto tho, naruto travels with taka, priest naruto, sasuke as inuyasha, suigetsu and naruto bicker a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22723831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sausegay/pseuds/sausegay
Summary: “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of ghosts,” Sasuke deadpans. Of all the things to be scared of in this land where demons roam free alongside humans, Naruto's afraid of an apparition. He’s fought demons for fucks sake. The worst a ghost can do is, what? Float through you.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 19
Kudos: 134





	this is the way i love you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [3amtrain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/3amtrain/gifts).



> hi sami! here goes fic number two for the valentine's day exchange <3 
> 
> this was really fun to write and i'm not sure if you're all that into inuyasha, but i hope you enjoy it eeee. your angels and demons prompt had me itching to write this. 
> 
> definitely going to continue writing more for this verse because it was so much fun!!!!
> 
> title: from the inuyasha theme song
> 
> also check the notes out at the end for some cool artwork inspired by this fic!!!

“Look who decided to join up with us again,” Naruto says once Suigetsu stops before them on the empty dirty road. The trees lining their path rustle as the wind picks up and blows through.

“Where’d you get that?” Sasuke asks, gesturing to the giant weapon Suigetsu has secured to his back. It resembles a giant boomerang of sorts.

“Oh this?” Suigetsu preens, “I stole it from some demon slayer village. They had all kinds of cool weapons but this baby was calling my name?” Suigetsu hits the wooden weapon once, then strokes it.

“How’d you steal from a demon slayer village? Aren’t those usually heavily guarded?” Jugo asks a pretty good question.

“And hidden,” Sasuke tacks on.

“Well…” Suigetsu trails off for dramatic effect, “seems like someone got there before me. I just followed the smell of blood and boom, treasure. Whoever ransacked it did a shitty job though, they left all the good weapons for me to find.”

“So you stole from a village that was already ransacked? That’s a little low, even for you Suigetsu.”

“Shut up, Jugo! And besides, the people were already dead anyways, it’s not like they were going to need it.” Naruto gasps in response but Suigetsu regards him with an eye roll. “Sorry my morals aren’t as intact as yours are Naruto.” He gives each syllable of his name an obnoxious pronunciation.

“I’ll say this again. Not only did you steal from a ransacked village, but they were also dead.” Jugo stresses.

“You act like I was the one who killed them!” He throws his hands up in exasperation.

“Close enough.”

  
“You’re irritating.” Suigetsu looks ready to lunge at Jugo.

  
“You’re both irritating.” Sasuke drawls, throwing the sticks in his hands down. He stands up from his squat on the side of the road. “Now shut up.”

  
“Rich coming from you.”

  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sasuke raises an eyebrow at Suigetsu.

  
“It’s your fault why I had to raid that village for a weapon in the first place.”

  
“Don’t see how that’s my fault.”

  
“Yeah, how is that Sasuke’s fault?” Naruto emphasizes, sticking Suigetsu with a steely glare. Suigetsu returns the same look back, but more annoyed, probably because of his co-signing.

  
“Well, maybe if he’d let me play with his sword every once in a while, I wouldn’t have to do this.”

  
It gets quiet for a moment. Naruto openly stares at Suigetsu in shock before Jugo looks away to better conceal his shock. Sasuke remains unfazed.

  
Suigetsu just stares them all down with a look of defiance.

  
“There will be no sword playing, you got that?” Jugo interrupts or at least tries to, but Suigetsu immediately barrels over his words by opening his mouth again.

  
“Show me your sword Sasuke.”

  
“No.” Sasuke grabs the hilt automatically.

  
“And why not? I’ve never seen you use that thing once in battle. Is it ‘cause you’re shit with your aim or something?” His eyes look wild as he begins to crowd into Sasuke’s space. Naruto, who finds the idea of them in close proximity aggravating, decides to bodily put himself in between the two. Suigetsu looks down at him once, and then a smirk forms on his face as he looks at Sasuke, whose face reads nothing but shock as his eyes are confronted with the back of Naruto’s head.

  
“I just don’t use it,” Sasuke responds after a few beats. It’s obvious it took him a second to get over being stunned.

  
“Geez,” Suigetsu groans, purple eyes rolling into his head, “what’s with this guy? Is he always so evasive? Just answer the damn question.”

  
Sasuke blinks at him once, his pointy ears twitching right after, before turning away. “Let’s go. I think I heard something coming from up the road.” Sasuke begins to walk off, not immediately checking to see if the other three are following behind him or not.

  
“Oh no you don’t,” Naruto sneers before turning and grabbing the first thing he can, which so happens to be the tip of Sasuke’s left wing. They flutter in annoyance, black feathers appearing to twitch. “You’re not going anywhere. We need to go back to that village and bury those bodies that Suigetsu just left lying around.” Naruto makes sure to give Suigetsu the stink eye when he addresses his last sentence towards him.

  
“That is not our job. Our job is to find the sacred jewel shards not construct burials.”

  
“Suigetsu just said the village was ransacked. People died Sasuke,” he stresses the last words, hoping that they’ll get Sasuke to reconsider. “The least we could do is give them a proper burial.”

  
Sasuke continues to stare back at him soundlessly, eyebrows drawn down.

  
“There were probably families there, Sasuke. Kids, elderly. I know you’re not fucking heartless, asshole.” Naruto levels Sasuke with a stern look, though it has cracks in its facade and the cracks reveal some saddened sympathy. “I know you know what it’s like to lose in that way and not receive any help in turn. We should go and help, see if there’s anyone who wasn’t in the village during the attack…” He trails off for a moment, before deciding to add on, “if you don’t go with me, I’ll go by myself.”

  
Sasuke continues to stare at him soundlessly, so Naruto mentally crosses his fingers. Finally, Sasuke relents with a stilted, “fine.”

  
“Good.” Naruto turns to Suigetsu. “You said it was ransacked right? Was it the works of demons or humans?”

  
“Demons. There were corpses littering the grounds.”

  
“Then all the more reason to help them.” Naruto lets out a small sight of determination. “Alright, let’s go.” Naruto thinks about grabbing Sasuke’s arm and dragging him along, but thinks better of it. He still has some self-preservation instincts left, and something about Sasuke’s aura seems a little darker than before.

  
Sasuke still follows behind him though, albeit at a slower pace.

  
Suigetsu rolls his eyes at the two, throwing a hand into the air. “So when I ask Sasuke to do something, he tells me no. But the moment Naruto asks, he just goes along with it.” Suigetsu turns to Jugo. “This is bullshit,” he says, although there’s no true heat to his words. Jealousy? Suigetsu’s never been acquainted with that emotion.

  
“I think he just likes Naruto more than you,” Jugo idly comments. “I also think these two situations are completely different. You wanted to see his sword, whether that be his dick of his actual sword I’m still not sure. Naruto asked him to check on a village that was attacked by demons. I feel that Sasuke is justified in denying you and aiding Naruto.”

  
Suigetsu just gives Jugo a dead look. “I was definitely talking about the sword on his hip.”

  
Before Jugo can retort, Naruto calls for them up the road.

  
“Come on you guys! We need you to tell us which way the village was Suigetsu.” He waves them down, cupping a hand to his mouth to make himself seem louder.  
Suigetsu and Jugo both follow behind. And if Suigetsu tells them ten minutes into their trip that the village is actually in the opposite direction, that’s no one’s business but his own.

  
He can only grin as Naruto yells in his ear about wasting their time. It’s music to his, although very sensitive, ears.

  
-

  
“The blood still smells fresh,” Sasuke says, using the sleeve of his robe to cover his nose. Naruto mimics the gesture, putting both of his own hands against his nose as his face screws up in disgust.

  
The smell that permeates the place reaches their noses even where they stand just outside of the village’s gates.  
“Nothing but dead corpses.” Suigetsu takes his weapon off his back, letting the top of it hit the ground with a heavy thud. “Damn this is heavy. How could someone carry this for more than an hour?”

  
“It seems they have decent fortification.” Jugo emphasizes by slapping his hand against the wooden logs that join together and stretch along the perimeter of the village; standing erect and soaring towards the sky. “Or had rather. My apologies.”

  
“Don’t places like these usually have barriers or some kind of other defense?” Sasuke asks, looking up at the walls and trying to understand the weird feeling he has about this place. “Weird that I can’t feel anything? Can you feel anything Naruto?”

  
“Nee,” Naruto responds, “I don’t feel any spiritual presence or demon presence other than you three.”

  
“You’re right, Sasuke. Demon slayer villages are typically known for their wards and other protections against demons. When you got here Suigetsu, was there a barrier?”

  
“Ugh,” Suigetsu groans from his perch on the dirt floor. The tip of the reusable water bottle (which by the looks of the orange coating and various frog stickers, he stole from Naruto) is placed lazily between his lips, yet he’s not sucking. The hand he uses to hold it up is immobile as well. “I already told you. I just walked in there and took the thing. No anti-demon barriers or anything of the sort.”

  
Naruto’s too busy looking through the village gates to pay Suigetsu any attention.

  
“So no resistance…” Jugo trails off, running his fingers along the wooden posts one more time before dropping his hand entirely.”

  
“None whatsoever. No humans, no demons, unless you’re counting the dead corpses.”

  
“That’s strange...for a powerful village to be wiped out so suddenly by a few lousy demons.” The demons he senses here are nothing to boast home about, all low level with demonic auras that could barely touch the surface of threatening.

  
“It happens,” Sasuke sighs with the words, flexing his wings out. He appears calm, although his feathers seem ruffled for lack of a better word. Taking a look past the fallen gate and into the village, Sasuke can see some of the carnage that Suigetsu mentioned. The blood spilled on the ground is a sharp contrast to the light brown dirt that coats the earth. The bodies, both demon and human, that lay in the blood is a sight that Sasuke is used to seeing in this world of theirs.  
Naruto once mentioned how in his modern time, demons don’t run free like they do here. He often refers to this place as a feudal period, something about Japan and ancient times.

  
“We should go inside,” Naruto says, although he makes no move to go forward. He makes a move to grab at the bow secured on his orange backpack though.

  
“I don’t trust this.”

  
“Fuck,” Suigetsu groans, rolling his eyes incredibly hard, “stop whining so much. It’s not that hard to just walk through a gate.” Everyone turns to Suigetsu but he says nothing in response to his words. It’s clear that everyone has made their minds up on how sketchy this whole situation seems, despite Suigetsu’s nonchalance.  
And despite how tense the situation has become, Naruto can't help but to make a fuss. It seems that he’s finally discovered that Suigetsu stole his water bottle. “Is that mine?” He points at the offending object.

  
“Maybe,” Suigetsu shrugs, taking another sip, “maybe not. I could’ve stolen it from the village for all you know.”

  
“It has my name on it!” Naruto yells in exasperation. “Those are my stickers.”

  
“Oh,” Suigetsu fakes surprise. “Do you want it back?” He raises it in the air, and even from his distance Naruto can already see his fang indents on the top.

  
“No, that’s gross. I don’t know where your mouth has been.”

  
“Good,” Suigetsu takes another sip, “‘cause I’m thirsty. You know, that backpack of yours is very useful, has some neat stuff in it.”

  
“What the fuck! Don’t go through my stuff.” Naruto looks like a pot ready to boil over.

  
Sasuke only gives them both blank stares in response. Watching as they continue to bicker back and forth, he decides to direct his attention to Jugo. “I’ll fly up and scout the area out before we enter. It’s been hours since Suigetsu was last here, so it’d be best to see if any unwanted attention has been attracted in that time.” With those words, Sasuke takes a step back from the group, making sure that Naruto (who was closest to him) is out of the way before he crouches and shoots himself into the sky. His wings beat heavily against the air, creating a loud sound as he steadies himself some centimeters above the village to get a clear vantage point.

  
The others down below stretch their necks up to look at him, shielding their eyes against the bright sun that shines behind Sasuke’s silhouette.

  
“Do you see anything strange, Sasuke?” Jugo asks, raising his voice to be heard across the distance.

  
“I don’t-” Sasuke begins, but immediately cuts himself off, “wait, what is…” Sasuke’s words trails off and his companions chance a glance at one another in confusion.

  
Their questions about what stopped Sasuke are soon answered when Sasuke makes a strange jerking motion and drops down a few centimeters from where he was originally positioned. A small knife goes through the empty space that Sasuke once occupied, confirming their suspicions that Suigetsu just strolling into the village to obtain his weapon seemed all too easy.

  
“Sasuke, are you okay?” Naruto shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling in alarm.

  
“Yeah,” Sasuke calls down to him. “That fucking came out of nowhere.”

  
Jugo and Suigetsu both turn their heads from Sasuke to look through the village entrance, where a lone figure stands and stares them down.

  
“What business do you have in my village?” The person asks, voice masculine and deep. They have their hands raised in front of their face, another knife gripped in between their fingers defensively. “Leave now or I’ll kill you.” Although the person concerns Jugo, judging by their slayer uniform, (he’s known demon slayers to be formidle and he does not doubt his team’s abilities, but he knows when to be conscious and not underestimate) he notes how awkward their stance seems. Despite the grip they have on their knife, their legs are bent awkwardly, posture hunched and knees turned inwards in a slight bend.

  
“You’ll kill us?” Suigetsu asks, using his new weapon to pitch himself off the ground. He sounds arrogant in his words, beginning to walk towards the gates with a swagger that only a demon could possess in the face of someone threatening murder against them. “You and what army?” Suigetsu asks. “There’s four of us and one of you.”

  
Suigetsu hears Sasuke drop down softly behind them and his smirk broadens, flashing his teeth.

  
That prompts him to step forward, gripping the strap of his large weapon and slowly dragging it into position. It’s meant to be threatening, less cautious and more we’re going to kill you and if you run we’ll chase you down.

  
Sasuke may be opposed to murdering, but Suigetsu doesn’t see the point in letting someone live if they want him dead. It makes no sense.

  
“Don’t kill him.” Sasuke commands, coming up on Suigetsu’s left. Suigetsu rolls his eyes at the expected words, ignoring what Sasuke’s saying and getting ready anyways.

  
He takes a couple of steps forward, almost through the gate now, before he’s stopped by a large figure, accompanied by a loud roar, jumping in front of him and blocking his path.

  
“Shit!” Suigetsu curses, stumbling backwards. “That’s a fuckin’ big ass cat.” The weapon he holds in his hand doesn’t make balancing himself any easier considering it’s so damn heavy.

  
“I said stay back.” The figure calls out again, accompanied by another growl from the flaming tiger. Its body is alight in shiny blue and black flames that dance in intricate patterns around its fur.

  
It’s eyes are different colors, one red and one green, although it doesn’t make it look any less menacing. The different colors are made more apparent as it slowly stalks forward, eyes locked on Suigetsu like he’s the prey stuck in a predator’s trap.

  
Sasuke cracks his knuckles next to Suigetsu, getting into defensive position. Suigetsu can sense Jugo approaching slowly on his left and Naruto approaching on Sasuke’s right, weapons still stowed.

  
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Naruto calls, ever the pacifist when it comes to diffusing situations. Suigetsu wouldn’t mind just charging in there and taking the guy down along with his overgrown kitty. “We’re here to help.”

  
“He has my weapon,” the person calls out to them. Naruto curses under his breath while Sasuke and Jugo both turn sharp, almost judgmental, eyes in his direction. As if he’s the cause for all of this.

  
And even if he is, he would never admit it.

  
“You say it as if I stole it,” Suigetsu begins, “I merely found it and borrowed it. Nothing wrong with that.”

  
“You took it from my home.”

  
“Well,” Suigetsu takes a short pause between words, “what’s that thing you always say Naruto?” Suigetsu turns towards him, “finders keepers right?” Naruto just stares at him, taken aback by Suigetsu’s level of bullshitting and the way he drags him into this nonsense.

  
Suigetsu focuses his eyes back on the person, but makes sure to keep the big cat in his peripheral lest he wants to get bitten.

  
“He’ll return the weapon if you agree to put yours down and get the cat to stand down,” Sasuke says. Everyone in their company turns surprised eyes at him.

  
“What the fuck, Sasuke!”

  
“Just like Naruto said here,” Sasuke gestures towards the blonde, “we don’t want any trouble. We came to investigate rumors about a decimated village.”  
“For what reason?” The voice raises in tension. The cat’s flames grow a little brighter.

  
“We have a Geki with us,” Sasuke continues, gesturing towards Naruto once more. Naruto waves. “He wanted to see if there were any wounded and secure a burial for the deceased.” Suigetsu finds it ironic that Naruto wants to help the wounded despite knowing nothing about healing techniques. That’s more up Jugo’s alley if anything, but what human would trust a demon that says he can heal?

  
The tension drops slightly; the slayer relaxes ever so subtlety and so does the cat. They’re still ready to strike, but they’ve loosened their grips.

  
Jugo and company side eye each other once and then all nod in understanding to begin slowly moving forward. Raising his hands in a placating way, he hears Naruto make a small noise as if he finally just understood what was going on. It’s clear he was a little slow on the uptake.

  
The cat’s growls get lower and more gravelly, it’s head bowing lower and blue flames going rigid around its body.

  
“We mean you no harm,” Jugo begins. Suigetsu rolls his eyes at the display.

  
“We’re not going to hurt you or your owner,” Naruto corroborates Jugo’s statement, hands also outstretched.

  
“Why should I trust a bunch of demons?” The person asks, swaying once in their position. He seems to be growing sluggish as they continue their conversation, arm going droopy despite the slayer trying to hold it up by sheer force alone.

  
“For fuck’s sake,” Suigetsu groans, “I’d love to kill you, I really would. You’re annoying me at this point, you and your overgrown cat, but these three won’t let me. I’d knock you both out in two seconds if I could.” The cat growls loudly at him, as if it picked up on the ease at which he talks about killing.

  
The person doesn’t respond verbally and it soon becomes apparent why when they suddenly drop to the floor. The cat hears the sounds, ears turning back along with its head. The cat makes a low sound and then runs towards the body.

  
“Shit, Naruto,” Sasuke calls, watching Naruto chase after the cat into the village. Sasuke takes off after him, making sure the idiot doesn’t get himself hurt if this is a trap. Jugo and Suigetsu follow behind the two slower.

  
When Naruto makes it to the body, he drops down, ignoring how the cat’s sneers and snaps at him, warning him to stay away from his territory. Dirt stains the knees of his black school pants, but he could care less.

  
“He’s bleeding a lot,” Naruto calls out, reaching his hand out to see the dark red that stains the back of the slayers uniform. The wound is slightly visible through the tears in the material. “We should make sure it isn’t infected-“ Before he can continue, Sasuke grabs his arm to stop him.

  
“Idiot,” Sasuke says, “It could be a trap for all we know.”

  
“I don’t think it’s a trap Sasuke,” Naruto snatches his arm back, “I think he’s actually hurt. We have to help him. Here, help me take him somewhere that’s more secure.” Naruto begins calling out instructions, already moving to grab the boys arms. The person’s pale face hangs down, and Naruto finds even more traces of blood in their dark black hair, which is matted in some places.

  
Sasuke just stares at him.

  
“What? Are you just going to stare at me like you’re stupid? We need to get him someplace. Help me,” Naruto pleads with him.

  
Sasuke takes one more second to stare, clearly sorting through something in his head if the look he’s giving Naruto is anything to go by. He looks almost astonished.

  
Blinking once, Sasuke clears whatever trance he was in and then goes to grab the person’s feet. “I sense a heartbeat, but it’s low. Let’s see if we can find a place to lay him.”

  
-

  
They find a house that wasn’t demolished in the onslaught, which was harder than it seemed considering most of the buildings in the place were demolished by the bodies of demons and slayer weapons. Located further in the back of the village, Sasuke and Naruto unceremoniously drop the slayer’s body on a tatami mat on the ground, making sure that his stomach is facing the ground.

“Shit he was heavy,” Naruto sighs, dropping to his knees immediately after his words. Letting out a breath of exhausted air, he checks the person’s body for a pulse (faint as it is) and then feelings along their neck for a temperature.

“He’s burning up.”

“Is there anything you need me to get?” Sasuke asks, watching Naruto fold up the sleeves of his school jacket.

“Get Jugo,” Naruto tells him, “because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing?”

Sasuke looks at him confused.

“I only know how to check for a pulse and see if they’re hot,” Naruto says bashfully, rubbing a hand behind his neck, “the other stuff didn’t make much sense to me.”

“Wow,” Sasuke says just before he leaves, “you continue to surprise me everyday. Stay here, I’ll go get him.”

-

“Fuck Jugo, you’re a lifesaver,” Naruto gushes, watching Jugo mix together the medicinal herbs with his eyes widened in excitement. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“It’s nothing really,” Jugo tries to bat away the compliment, feeling awkward at the idea of accepting it. “More my mom’s influence than my own.” He crushes the herbs a little faster.

“It’s still amazing though,” Naruto continues, “your mom taught you all these things about healing and they’re so useful.” A pout forms on Naruto’s lips and his next train of thought appears. “The old hag tried to teach me some things about different herbs and their different uses and how to properly disinfect a wound but I don’t remember any of that.” Naruto rubs the back of his head as a little embarrassed laugh tumbles from between his lips. Jugo is surprised that he lets out a laugh himself to join Naruto’s own.

“It takes a while to get used to.”

A small silence lapses between the two as Naruto watches Jugo mix the medicinal herbs together, leaves crumbled together within the mortar. The calm within the small room is only broken when the door’s cover gets pulled to the side and light is further brought into the room.

“How’s he doing?” Sasuke asks, entering behind Suigetsu. They drop the entrance’s cover and the room is filled with the light from the small fire next to Jugo, which sits and heats up their water.

“Much better now that Jugo cleaned the wound,” Naruto replies happily. Sasuke’s eyes are drawn to the prone figure on the ground, where the person’s body lay in the same position, immobile.

Sans the bodysuit’s top, which has been left loose around his waist, the slayer has large white bandages wrapped around his middle and even more strapped between his shoulders blades, covering where he was stabbed.

Right in the back too. Nothing more tragic than a backstabbing.

“Do you think he’ll make it through the night?” Suigetsu drops to the ground heavily, sighing out loudly at finally getting to rest. His cheeks are dusted with brown dirt and have started turning red from working out in the sun.

“We’ll see if he wakes and try to give him this tea,” Jugo answers Sasuke, dumping the minced herbs into the pot of boiling water. He looks at Sasuke once, watching the other half-demon take a seat on the ground and try to avoid hitting his wings on anything.

Jugo finds it interesting how he maneuvers with his wings, considering how large those black beasts can span.

“If he doesn’t wake on his own we’ll have to shake him awake,” Naruto grins a little bit at his words, as if he finds the idea enjoyable.

“Naughty,” Suigetsu comments.

“Not shake,” Jugo tuts. Naruto laughs despite being told no.

Turning his attention from Jugo, Naruto’s eyes gradually shift towards Sasuke, where they always seem to be drawn even in moments like these where they’re surrounded by their group. He watches as the demon begins to take off his blue robe, carefully maneuvering so that his wings don’t get caught in the process. Naruto still isn’t sure how he manages with those huge things and his clothes, but somehow he does as he gets it off and folds it next to his thigh.

“Did Karin send a message? Maybe she knows something about this.” Jugo asks Sasuke, though it’s no more than background noise to Naruto, at this point, who watches Sasuke continue to shed more clothes.

“No,” Sasuke replies, “I haven’t heard from her since we saw her at the castle.” Next he sheds his light creme undergarment, leaving him shirtless and flustering Naruto further. He lets the material drop to the side and makes no move to unsecure it from his bottoms.

And why is his shirt even off anyways? Naruto asks himself.

“Good riddance. Who needs her when we have this guy right here?” Suigetsu asks, using his foot to prod at the still body on the ground. “He’s so pale, he looks dead already. Hope he’s not dead though. That would kind of suck.”

Jugo just gives him a blank look in turn.

“Speaking of him,” Sasuke says, bringing his elbows to his folded knees to rest his arms. “What should we do if he wakes?” Sasuke stares down at the body and then turns his attention to Jugo for an answer.

“I think-” Suigetsu begins, but gets cut off by Jugo.

“Jugo,” Sasuke puts emphasis on the name, clearly showing who he was addressing in the first place. “Not you Suigetsu.”

“And why not?”

“You already exasperated the situation enough, I doubt we should look to you for effective strategizing.”

“That was very foolish of you,” Jugo corroborates Sasuke’s statement. “He’ll be less trusting of us considering you threatened to kill him and stole his weapon. Of all the weapons to steal, it had to be that one. And if it wasn’t for Naruto’s position,” Jugo gestures to one of the only two humans in the room, “the cat wouldn’t have backed down.”

The cat in question now remains stationed outside of the shack, guarding the door after Jugo pacified it for the time being. As long as the guy lives, the cat won’t attack is the understanding Jugo came to with the creature. The only thing the creature requested is that the only other human in their company (Naruto) stay by their owner’s side.

“I was just speaking my mind. As the agent of chaos, as you all have deemed me, it felt only natural to voice how he was annoying me. And congrats to Naruto, for being human I guess.”

Bringing his hand to his chin, Jugo goes into deep thought. “As the only other human,” Jugo bulldozes of Suigetsu’s sassy remarks, “I think...maybe Naruto should talk to the guy, alone perhaps. He’d be more comfortable with talking to one of his own kind versus us.”

Sasuke nods his head. “Makes sense. I’m staying in the room though.”

Suigetsu turns a surprised eye to Sasuke. “Why? Wouldn’t that jeopardize your little plan?”

“I’m not leaving Naruto, who’s still learning how to shoot his sacred arrows, alone with an assassin who has been trained to kill since birth. He could hold him for ransom or worse kill him,” Sasuke says the words with such intense determination that it offers no room for rebuttal. Although Jugo wants to comment on the person’s willingness in that scenario, he knows now that the only person who could sway Sasuke at this moment is Naruto.

So he asks, “what do you think Naruto?”

They wait a beat for a response, but get nothing in return. Suigetsu and Jugo both turn their attention from Sasuke, who they were watching with an intense gaze. Sasuke breaks eye contact with Jugo as a result and also turns his attention to Naruto, who’s watching Sasuke with a hawk like attention.

“Naruto,” Sasuke calls his name softly.

It takes him a moment, but it seems that Naruto has finally picked up on the change in atmosphere. Blinking once and removing his gaze from Sasuke’s shoulders (which he totally wasn’t admiring) he looks up into Sasuke’s eyes, seeing him staring right back with a raised brow, and then immediately turns his attention to the left where Jugo happens to be sitting.

“What?” Naruto asks, clearing his throat. He wishes his face didn’t feel so hot with all the attention being turned on him and that the hoarseness in his voice would leave.

“Um…”Jugo begins. Suigetsu giggles in the background, clearly enjoying the awkward vibes Naruto is emitting into the atmosphere. “We were wondering how you felt about talking to our slayer when we awakens.”

“Oh,” Naruto blinks blue eyes at him, looking even more confused than normal. “Sure, I guess. But why though?” He asks, trying to appear casual by sticking a finger in his ear to clear it out. Make sure he heard right.

“He probably wouldn’t feel comfortable with a demon, also…” Jugo trails off, looking towards Sasuke. “Sasuke said he wants to stay in the room with you, for your own protection.”

“Oh,” Naruto raises his eyebrows a little, shoulders dropping along with his hand. “That sounds good I guess. You can count on me.” He points a thumb towards his chest.

Everyone nods as their plan slowly comes into fruition, relaxing the mood a bit.  
“But Sasuke’s not coming with me.” Naruto smiles at everyone around the room, “I can do it on my own. I don’t need a guard dog.”

So they don’t come to a compromise.

-

“Hey,” Jugo kneels next to the cat outside, stretching out his gray left hand to let the creature sniff him and know he means no harm. “We’re going to bury the bodies. Go in with your owner.” Jugo uses his other hand to point towards the shack.

The cat happily trots along, paws making soft contact with the ground and slipping between the door’s cover. He’s quite cute when he’s shrunk down small and not so large and menacing.

When Jugo stands, he hears Naruto stomp out right after the cat leaves. He has a scowl on his face, and it seems he’s going in whichever direction his feet will take him, as long as it’s the complete opposite of Sasuke.

“The shovels are that way,” Jugo tells him, watching the younger huff and then turn around from the complete opposite direction he was heading in. He walks past Jugo again, fists balled up and shoes kicking up dirt with every movement.

Jugo takes a moment to sigh, directing his attention to where Sasuke and Suigetsu have gone back to digging before they came in the shed to take a break.

He weighs the pros and cons of joining them or working with Naruto.

After a moment of thought, he decides to work with Naruto.

He knows working with Suigetsu and Sasuke will mean listening to Suigetsu try to goad Sasuke into doing the wrong thing, as he seems to enjoy doing best. Jugo just hopes that Sasuke will ignore Suigetsu and talk to Naruto before the day is out. It’s best not to leave these things untouched too long.

-

It’s still not resolved by the time night falls and they realize that they’ve only gotten one fourth of the bodies into graves and the remaining are still lined next to one another awaiting burial. They were told by Jugo that they had to make sure the soul collectors didn’t come to steal the souls of the departed, which isn’t that far off considering they’ve seen an abundance in the last few days compared to having seen none before.

Jugo and Suigetsu decided to take watch inside with the slayer, although Naruto pleaded to be put with Jugo instead.

But Suigetsu only smirked at him with that infuriating face of his and said, “what’s wrong? Trouble in paradise? Don’t you want to hang out with your lover boy?”

To which Naruto responded by trying to scream the demon’s ear off, but Suigetsu only ducked out of the way before Naruro could blow off his eardrum and slithered away inside the hut to take watch.

So that is how Naruto finds himself sitting outside in the dark, a single fire going to illuminate the area, and a hundred centimeters of space between him and Sasuke.

He’s not going to fold first, he refuses.

“You’re an asshole, ya know,” Naruto says just to clear the awkward silence. He isn’t above insulting Sasuke, definitely not, and he absolutely can’t stand the awkward silence between them, no matter how long Sasuke can keep it going. Naruto has never done well when it’s quiet, always needing to make some noise, but Sasuke seems to revel in the silence.

“And you’re acting childish,” Sasuke throws back.

“Fuck you! You’re the reason I’m doing this anyways. You keep treating me like I’m weak and I’m not weak.” Naruto throws right back at him, body now fully turned towards the demon in his mounting anger.

“I never said you were weak…” Sasuke’s voice trails off, still maintaining a quieter tone compared to Naruto’s mounting volume. Because where Naruto brings loud and deafening, Sasuke brings quiet and calm. “You’re the furthest thing from weak. Everything you’ve done up to this point has proven that, but you’re so reckless.”

Naruto stares at him.

“You throw yourself into danger without thinking and totally disregard the fact that you’re still human. You need to realize that sometimes your life is more valuable than the ones you’re trying to save. Actually scratch that,” Sasuke talks over himself, “your life is more valuable than the ones you keep trying to save.”

A silence descends upon the two once Sasuke’s words cease. The flames of the fire briefly flicker as a wind passes between the two, rustling hair and billowing sleeves.

Naruto doesn’t know what to say to that. Of course he doesn’t agree; he finds value in every life that they come across. He wants to save as many people as he can and above all protect his friends in the process, Sasuke especially included.

And if the time came, he would take a hit for him.

“I don’t agree with you,” Naruto’s voice has gone quieter, the weight of Sasuke’s words having calmed his mood. “I can’t help wanting to save everyone. I feel that everyone deserves a second chance at life and if it means sacrificing myself in the process, well so be it.”

Sasuke makes an annoyed sound in response, a little ‘tch’ leaving his lips. His ears twitch again. It seems they do that a lot with Naruto around.

“And if the day ever came that I had to do the same for you-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Sasuke cuts him off, “I swear to every deity, if you ever sacrificed yourself for me...I would kill you myself.”

“But I’d already be dead.”

“I’d bring you back to life.” Sasuke looks like a badly constrained ball of rage, his fist is balled up so tight. “Will you back from the dead from sheer will alone only to kill you again,” his words are firm, his voice rough.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t need you to die for me. I didn’t ask you to.”

“You’re always putting yourself in harms way just for me? Thought I could return the favor.”

“I can’t help it.” Sasuke looks towards Naruto, who returns his gaze steadily. “My body just moves on its own. It’s like it knows I can take more hits in comparison.”

“Demons,” Naruto laughs.

“Humans,” Sasuke responds back.

A silence falls around them once again, though it only lasts for a few moments before Naruto fills it again.

“Do you think anything’s gonna happen tonight? Like will the soul collectors actually come?” Naruto asks the question that was subconsciously on the back of Sasuke’s mind. It’s a little too quiet in a recently slaughtered village, at least you would expect bandits to come and forage or a demon or two to pass by. With all these dead bodies, it’s like a breeding ground for misdeeds.

“Hopefully not, it’s always irritating having to deal with ghosts and risen bodies.”

Naruto turns his head slowly towards Sasuke, eyes widening in horror. “Ghosts? Did you just say ghosts?”

“Well yeah,” Sasuke gives him a weird look, “when the soul collectors come to steal the souls of the deceased, their ghosts are brought forth and if they aren’t killed, they could roam.”

“You’re bullshitting me,” Naruto’s voice gets a little higher, “you have to be kidding. There’s no way that there are ghosts.” Even the thought alone makes him shiver. He wishes it was just from the cold, not the impending doom of ghosts.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of ghosts,” Sasuke deadpans. Of all the things to be scared of in this land where demons roam free with humans, he’s afraid of an apparition. He’s fought demons for fucks sake. The worst a ghost can do is, what? Float through you.

“I can deal with the demons, half and full, chasing us down and trying to kill us because we accidentally walked into their territory. I can deal with Suigetsu’s bloodthirsty behavior and Karin’s terrifying wind abilities, but ghosts is where I draw the line.” Naruto folds his hands over his chest. “I could even deal with your brother. People rising from the dead is just weird and unwarranted.”

Sasuke stares at him with squinted eyes, finding this unbelievable. The one who stared down his demonic brother and threatened to pierce his skull with an arrow if he touched Sasuke again can’t deal with spirits.

It’s almost comical in a way.

“Did you hear that?” Naruto freaks, turning his head this way and that.

“You’re just freaking yourself out, calm down.” Sasuke should know if he heard something; he didn’t inherit his family’s ears for nothing.

“Eep,” Naruto makes a strange noise, “I swear there’s something out there Sasuke.” With each word, he crawls closer to Sasuke until his head is resting on Sasuke’s shoulder and his face is buried in his neck.

Sasuke freezes, feeling fingers wrap around his arm in a display that would be comical if Sasuke wasn’t so focused on their points of contact. Sasuke isn’t sure he’ll ever get used to Naruto’s form of intimacy (crowding into people’s spaces unapologetically) despite how more common it becomes with each passing day of the moon and sun.

“Um,” Sasuke swallows, “don’t you think this is a bit much.”

“This is life or death,” Naruto exaggerates, looking up into Sasuke’s eyes and seeming to not notice how close they are now. Sasuke almost goes cross eyed trying to look into  
Naruto’s blue eyes, which widen and implore Sasuke to understand how dire he finds this situation.

His sword shifts in between his legs, nearly falling from where it rests against his shoulder due to Naruto’s jostling.

So he asks the only question that can come to mind. “Are you trying to kiss me?”

The atmosphere stills abruptly, if only for a moment. It’s only put into motion again by Naruto’s exclamation.

“Gah,” Naruto makes a strange sound, shoving hard at Sasuke’s face and nearly pushing the half-demon over in his haste. “I wasn’t trying to kiss you. Why would I want to kiss your ugly face?” Naruto sticks his tongue out in a gag.

“You were the one cuddling up to me,” Sasuke points out, rubbing hard at his face and shooting Naruto a pointed look.

“What makes you think I wanted to cuddle you?” Naruto raises an eyebrow as if he’s offering a good defense here. “I was scared and you were the only person close by that I could latch onto.”

“Cuddling usually leads to kissing,” Sasuke points out.

“And who have you cuddled and kissed before?” Naruto asks, peering close into Sasuke’s face once again. It seems he already forgot his earlier embarrassment.

Sasuke just stares at him. “I used to see the women in the temple use that as a way to seduce men. Plead from protection because they’re scared, cuddle up really close, and then go in for the kiss.”

Naruto gasps. “Your mother let you see that stuff?”

“It was accidental,” Sasuke continues, “hard to avoid seeing those things when they’re done out in the open.”

“What kind of place did you grow up in?” Naruto asks, which is ironic considering he grew up raised by a godfather whose known for his erotic literature and once took Naruto to a strip club at age eight to earn him some money in gambling.

His mother never did find out about that, otherwise she’d have had his head.

“Well it wasn’t like they engaged in intercourse-” Naruto slaps a hand over Sasuke’s mouth.

“I shouldn’t have asked,” Naruto responds, although it seems that while they were bickering, a presence slipped in the gates. They hear the sounds of sheets rustling, causing them to both turn towards where the corpses are laid out.

Naruto lets out a scream as one of the men’s bodies begins to levitate off of the ground. The scream is followed by him squeezing up against Sasuke once more, but this time Sasuke doesn’t seem to have any questions about it as he draws an arm over Naruto’s shoulder for protection.

The sheet that was covering the body begins to fall down and it slowly reveals a white eel with tentacles, using its small antennas to go within the body to presumably extract the soul.

Cracking his knuckle, Sasuke unwraps from around Naruto and lunges forward to swipe his claw through the soul collector. The creature dissipates into white particles and floats towards the sky upon impact.

The soul that was in the collector’s hand begins to float back into the body, causing the body to drop back down to the ground.

“See,” Naruto points out after a beat of silence. Sasuke turns towards him in haste. “I told you they were creepy.” Rolling his eyes, Sasuke lets out a relieved sound. He thought Naruto saw something else.

-

The fourth day within the village brings new promises.

  
Sasuke opens his eyes to the sounds of harsh breathing. It’s his watch for the night, but it seems that he isn’t the only one up. The fire is still burning in the middle; not much use to him, but it serves to keep the humans in his company warm.

  
Along with the fire crackling in the middle, it seems that the slayer is also energized as well. He’s only ever woken once before, but not long enough to get any words out. They’ll see if this night brings any new developments to his condition.

  
“Seeing you awake is better than watching you toss and turn.”

  
The person passes panicked eyes over him, as if not fully registering where he is or who is talking to him. He seems to be assessing his surroundings, not focusing on one thing too long. Must be the effects of his injury and the medicine.

  
“Who are you?”

  
“My name is Sasuke, and you?”

  
The person looks at him, all emotion leaving their face. “And how do I know I can trust you?” Well that’s it for first introductions it seems.

  
“If it wasn’t for my group, you’d be dead,” Sasuke regards him in a disinterested manner, “so take that as you will.”

  
The person trails their eyes around the room, passing over where Jugo, who remains seated even in his sleep, has his head thrown back against the wooden wall. Sasuke watches Sai then look towards Naruto and Suigetsu, who despite their constant disagreements and bickering, seem to have gotten cozy in their sleep. With their mouths both wide open, letting out both drools and snores in sync, they both rest their heads against Naruto’s backpack.

  
It’s almost as if Naruto knows that he’s being watched because he make a small snuffling noise, gripping Sasuke’s robe tighter in between his hands, the one he had begged for their first night here when he complained about the cold, despite them both knowing that Naruto sleep wild enough that he kicks all his covers off by the middle of the night. It explains why the robe barely covers anything and just lays crumbled on his chest and why one of his legs is thrown over Suigetsu’s.  
Sasuke keeps his eyes trained on the two, meanwhile the slayer looks down, leaving the two in silence for a few moments before he finally decides to speak again.

“My name is Sai,” the slayer says quietly. He then takes another pause. “For how long was I like that?”

  
Sasuke finally drags his attention away from the two. “Long enough,” he responds. He’s never been one for long conversations, especially with strangers, and he isn’t going to start changing that now.

  
A couple more seconds pass by in awkward silence, with neither looking to fill the quiet space with sound. What is there to really say in this situation? It’s clear that whatever disturbed Sai in his sleep isn’t information the demon slayer is willing to expose and if Sasuke were to bet his life, he’d assume it has something to do with the recent ambush.

  
“I have many questions,” Sai speaks once again, and it feels somewhat better to be able to put a name to the face that’s been laying on the floor for days. Hearing Suigetsu refer to him as their resident ‘corpse’ was starting to get aggravating, if only because it’d send Naruto into yelling “he’s not dead, stop calling him that!” At the top of his lungs.

  
Those two work like the day and night cycle, you always know they’re going to go at it without fail every day and every other second of the day.  
“And I may have answers,” Sasuke finally responds, having let his thoughts get away from him a moment too long. He can tell because of the way Sai stares at him in confusion.

  
“Why did you save me? I’ve never known demons to feel compassion.”

  
“Well, the human in our group feels a little too much compassion. He decided your life was necessary to preserve.”

  
“You travel with a human?” His sense must be either incredibly dull if he couldn’t detect the only non-demonic energy in their presence or Sasuke and the other’s demonic energy is strong enough to cover up Naruto’s human aura entirely. Sasuke would bet on the former over the latter.

  
“I just said I did, didn’t I?” Sai stares at him blankly, before one of the most disturbing smiles Sasuke has ever seen, blooms across his face. And Sasuke has seen his brother smile before, and if history is anything to go by, nothing good ever comes from it.

  
“Wow, you’re a cranky one. Sasuke, was it? Well Sasuke, why don’t you take a little nap and get that sword out your ass, yeah?”

  
“Maybe I should’ve just let Suigetsu shove one up your ass instead.” Sasuke says, leaning back against the shack’s wooden wall. “If anyone should be going back to sleep, it’s the injured one. I’m fine where I am.” He smells Sai’s ruse from all the way over here because no one changes from somber to jovial in such a short time unless they’re up to something and Sasuke doesn’t trust Sai not to do something if he put his guard down. The taunts are clearly meant to get Sasuke to leave himself open or vulnerable, but Sai unfortunately got stuck with the wrong one. Those taunts might have worked if it was Naruto or Suigetsu perhaps.

  
“You’re fun.” He gives Sasuke another fake little smile, no teeth, all bite. Sasuke smiles back.

  
Directing his attention to his companions, he notices that Jugo has awoken from his sleep due to the change in the air. They make eye contact and then nod once at each other. Grabbing for the closest body part next to him, which happens to be Naruto’s foot, which kept prodding at his thigh for the last minute or so, he gives a harsh yank.

  
Naruto’s snores abruptly cut off.

  
“Get up, your friend’s awake.” Naruto tells him upon seeing the annoyed look on Naruto’s face. In response, Naruto’s mouth drops open into an ‘o’ and he rubs his hands quickly against his eyes to wake himself up further.

  
Sai regards the rising bodies with blank eyes, clearing doing a good of disguising any weariness he may be feeling in the presence of so many demons he has no chance of killing. That would unsettling for any human of his skill level, even if he was at full health and with a weapon, but he doesn’t appear fazed in the slightest.

  
That’s interesting to say the least.

  
“How are your wounds feeling?” Jugo asks.

  
“Fine,” the slayer responds.

  
“His name is Sai,” Sasuke tells Jugo, then looks towards their newest addition, “and this is Jugo. He’s the one who healed you.” Sasuke watches to see if Sai makes an show of discomfort at being healed by someone who is so obviously a demon, even if he is only half like Sasuke, he still has the gruesome grey patches covering his left arm and one glowing yellow eye to prove it. Not even mentioning the demonic energy that swims off of him in waves.

  
Sai nods once at him, and it seems that’s the only acknowledgment he’s going to give the revelation.

  
“Here Sasuke,” Naruto interrupts, handing Sasuke back his blue top. He’s sitting up completely now, trying to suppress a yawn behind one hand. Suigetsu’s up as well, regarding the interaction with tired eyes and white hair sticking up at off ends. “Thank you,” he says to Sasuke; two words he admittedly doesn’t say to him often.

  
It seems Suigetsu isn’t the only one paying attention because Sai decides to chime in, “I didn’t know demons cared for humans.”

  
“What do you mean?” Sasuke asks, tilting his head slightly as he looks back at Sai. He’s switched positions now, mirroring Sasuke by sitting cross-legged.

  
“Your robe.” Sai loosely gestures to the fabric draped over Naruto.

  
“He gets cold easily.” Sasuke can feel Suigetsu roll his eyes in the background.

  
“And what about you?”

  
“I normally run hotter.”

  
“Is it because you’re half?” Sai tilts his head curiously at Sasuke.

  
Sasuke narrows his eyes in turn.

  
“You must be Naruto,” Sai turns to the blonde next. “Sasuke told me that you wanted to save me. Why?” He cuts right to the chase with him.

  
“You fainted and you looked like you needed help,” Naruto says his words as it’s commonplace for people in this feudal world to help people in their time of need, especially someone who willingly associates with demons. Sometimes he forgets that he’s not back home, people have more reservations here than in modern times. “I wanted to help you.”

  
“Help me or compensate for something?”

Naruto just blinks at him stupidly. “What?”

“I was told that you weren’t even the one who healed me, it was your gigantic friend here. So Naruto, what do you do other than trying to help people you can’t even help?” Sai tilts his head at Naruto.

The quiet the descends upon the room is so stark that you could drop a weapon and it would sound louder than it should. Naruto’s face screams shocked, but Sasuke can feel the anger mounting within him.

“To be dickless sounds utterly exhausting, don’t you think. Having to rely on the help of demons because you have nothing to bring to the table other than wishing to help people.”

Suigetsu lets out a wheeze, but disguises it with a cough behind his hand. Sasuke turns sharp eyes to him, preparing to grab Naruto if he tries to maul Sai’s face off. Sasuke wouldn’t mind Naruto doing it, considering it would be one less annoyance in his life, but Sai is still a trained killer so that probably wouldn't work out well for Naruto.

To everyone’s shock, Naruto doesn't react immediately, despite how everyone other than Sai regards him with wary (or amused in Suigetsu’s case) eyes. “I’m not going to hurt him,” Naruto answers the question that’s likely floating through everyone’s mind, “I’m the better person here.”

“Well, I’m glad you have the going for you dickless.”

Naruto waits a beat, before lunging. “Fuck that being the better person bullshit. I’ll end his life.”

The ensuing commotion is comical to none other than Suigetsu and Sai himself it seems.

-  
“What kind of shrine servant can’t even shoot a sacred arrow?” Suigetsu rolls his eyes, cheek still firmly planted on his hand.

  
Sasuke sighs, knowing already what’s about to come. They just settled down from Naruto trying to wrap his hands around Sai’s skinny little next, but it seems that Suigetsu is already ready to get Naruto going again.

  
He has never wished to be stuck to that tree again so much in his life.

  
“It’s not as easy at it looks okay,” Naruto defends predictably, turning on Suigetsu in a flash. “I’d like to see you try and shoot it. Oh wait, you can’t.” Naruto grins something snary at him, looking past Sasuke’s expressionless face to stare Suigetsu down. Suigetsu must feel his gaze because he slowly turns towards him with bored eyes and a knowing smirk.

  
“Well I wasn’t the one blessed with godlike powers, now was I? You can barely shoot an arrow, which is one of the few things we need you for, and despite the fact that your only other talent is finding sacred jewel shards, you seem to always lose them.” Suigetsu’s face gets closer to Naruto’s with every word, while Sasuke sits in between the two.

  
“Suigetsu…” Sasuke warns.

  
“And what purpose do you serve? Other than pissing everyone off?”

  
“I can fight.”

  
“And so can I.”

  
“Oh really?”

  
“Yeah asshole, wanna test it out right now?” Naruto’s eyes get a little bigger, egging Suigetsu on as the thrill of a fight excites him.

  
“I’d love to see you-” Suigetsu’s words get cut off by a hand pushing against his face. Naruto makes a similar garbled noise, flailing as another hand belonging to the owner of the one that pushed Suigetsu, smashes into his face and sends him falling back onto his behind.

  
“Can you both get out of my ear?” Sasuke wipes his hands onto his pants, “you fight like cats and dogs, knock it out.”

  
Sai chuckles at that, still sitting in his same position, untouched and unfazed.

  
“What?” Sasuke asks. He can hear Jugo reprimanding Suigetsu for egging on Naruto like he always does. Suigetsu will most likely respond by sticking his tongue out at him if their normal conversations are anything to go by.

  
“You three make quite the funny picture,” Sai comments, “it’s like those paintings of demons perching themselves atop another person’s shoulder with an angel sitting atop the other. The angel and demon often bicker while the person they guard sits on in misery.

  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sasuke asks the question they all want to know.

  
“Oh, I apologize.” Sai laughs awkwardly, “rude of me to assume you three were cultured on castle art.” Sasuke and Naruto stare at Sai with matching blank expressions, but Suigetsu giggles a bit. How can he take offense to what this guy says when he ends every sentence with a weird smile.

  
“I don’t know what the hell you just said, but I like you,” Suigetsu tuts one finger, “I like you a lot. You’re fun. You should come with us.”

  
“No!” Naruto shouts, trying to advance towards Suigetsu and ring some sense into him, but Sasuke’s grip on his bicep holds him back. “Absolutely not. He can’t come with us.”

  
“And why not?” Suigetsu quirks an eyebrow up at him.

  
“Because he’s an asshole,” Naruto sounds exasperated, clearly annoyed that Suigetsu doesn’t find Sai’s attitude to be an issue at all.

  
“So what?” Suigetsu shrugs with his words. “Honestly we could use someone more realistic or more honest on this team. Between you, mister goody-two-shoes we have to help everyone and be nice, blah,” Suigetsu sticks his tongue out in disgust before turning towards his next culprit, “and you Jugo! Who’s just as bad as Naruto in terms of niceness and other bullshit that has to do with morals; Sai would be like a breath of fresh air in comparison.”

  
“And what about me?” Sasuke asks, smirk coating his face. He doesn’t care much for Suigetsu’s opinion of him, but he thinks it would be fun to know.  
“You’re an asshole, best believe, but you also listen to Naruto more than you listen to anyone else so it cancels out.”

  
“Jealous?”

  
“I wish he’d listen to me all the time,” Naruto sighs wistfully, “I have great ideas.”

  
“No,” Suigetsu squints at him, “just waiting for you to get some sense and listen to me for once and maybe then you’ll be on the winning team.”

  
“While joining your group would be fun and I find this whole ordeal especially amusing.” He’s clearly being sarcastic. “I have more important matters to attend to that don’t involve you.”

  
“Well we could help you with that,” Jugo, although silent for most of the conversation, chimes in. Suigetsu beams at him, not having expected Jugo to agree with him.

  
Naruto pouts, having hoped Jugo would side with him instead.

  
“I work alone.”

  
“And so did I,” Sasuke says, emphasizing the past tense of the statement. Sai turns bored eyes to him. “Until I met these three.”  
“Are you siding with me finally?”

  
“No,” Sasuke responds to Suigetsu immediately, “I don’t give a damn about him or his mission. I’m just pointing out how little weight his statement holds. With this group's insistence, you’re bound to lose.”

  
Suigetsu flips him off in turn and Sasuke gladly returns the gesture.

  
“The work I must do, I have to do alone. You four won’t be any help in finding Orochimaru.”

  
Everyone’s ears perk up at the name, especially Sasuke, who finally looks up from the ground he had been staring at. Clearly finding it more interesting than what was going on at the moment.

  
“Did you just say Orochimaru?” Naruto asks, coming up behind Sasuke’s left shoulder and grabbing onto him. Either to steady himself or to offer Sasuke some kind of comfort. He’s not too sure himself.

  
“Yes.”

  
“That’s perfect, cause we’re looking for him too.”

  
“What business do you have with Orochimaru?”

“You answer first.” The demand is evident, especially when Sasuke slaps a hand over Naruto’s mouth before he can start babbling on and expose their plans.

  
Sai just stares at him blankly before his eyes crinkle and his lips stretch into something akin a smile. “Make me.”

  
Sasuke smiles back at him, revealing two sharp fangs. “Oh I gladly will.”

**Author's Note:**

> here's some artwork i commissioned from a friend for the fic: 
> 
> \- https://twitter.com/sausegay/status/1227767996925374464?s=20 (sasuke)  
> \- https://twitter.com/sausegay/status/1227768614763188224?s=20 (itachi)  
> \- https://twitter.com/sausegay/status/1227769242235224064?s=20 (deidara)
> 
> and here goes some artwork that an amazing reader did for the fic!!! the way i cheesed so hard looking at this like wow it's so cute,, go and give it some love:
> 
> \- https://twitter.com/Sasukedoesstuff/status/1231146843087593472?s=20 (sasuke and naruto)


End file.
